Something I was so pleased to win, especially as my daughter was placed in 43rd position.

A short tutorial video on the whip finish by hand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_MlLFxgtWk

That good old favourite, "The Treacle Parkin"

"The Treacle Parkin"

A really old favourite of mine for both Trout & Grayling.
Many new patterns are being devised every day, some better than others, some just the latest fashion, but, patterns like the Treacle Parkin have really stood the test of time, countless fish have taken a liking to the old Treacle, that should tell us one important thing, the newest fashion doesn't always beat the boring old traditional, No exotic materials is this fly.




Dressing.
Hook, U/eye or D/eye, 14, 16, 18, 20.
Thread, Black Nano Silk.
Tail, Orange/ Yellow wool or Floss.
Body, Peacock herl, (2).
Hackle, Red/ Ginger cock.

Early Season Nymphs.

Two early season nymphs which are tied for the forthcoming 2014 season.

Iron blue sparkle nymph.
Hook, Partridge L/S streamer size 10.
Thread, Black Nano Silk.
Tail, Partridge fibres.
Tag, Pearl lurex.
Body, Mole fur (dubbed).
Thorax, Semperfli straggle string, (one turn).
Hackle, Small english partridge.

Iron Blue Nymph (variant).
Hook, Partridge streamer, size 10.
Thread, Red Nano Silk.
Tail, White hackle fibres.
Tag, Red Nano Silk.
Body, Mole fur, (dubbed).
Hackle, Small black hen.

Commonwealth Flyfishing Championships 2009.

Isle of Islay.

My last competition was the 2009 commonwealths, I had decided to call time on my competition fishing, so, it was nice to bow out as Welsh Captain,

The 2009 Welsh Commonwealth team I captained.
Geoff Thompson, Mike Heckler, David Hoppe, Trevor Jones, Euros Jones, Glyn Jones.

I enjoyed every minute of every competition I ever entered, and made so many good friends around the world. 

The Commonwealths are known as the friendly competition, and they certainly are in every sense of the word.

Anyone getting the chance to fish the Commonwealths are in exalted company indeed, the list of anglers who have taken part in them is a veritable who's who of angling, YOU can be part of the legend too.

My best individual finish was 8or9th at Loch Fitty, Scotland.

Absolutely the very best Competition anywhere in the world no question

A little bit of French for the weekend sir

My favourite French Partridge Mayfly pattern

Sweeney Todd meets the Whisky Fly

Two real retro patterns, the Sweeney & Whisky Fly, between them these two must have caught many an angler their first Rainbow Trout.
Myself, I DID get my first Rainbow on the Whisky Fly, many moons ago, my Dad took me to Grafham Water, up until this memorable day, most of my Trout fishing had been done on our local rivers, a 1lb Brownie was a prized catch if you were lucky, Rainbows had not appeared locally at that time, but, Grafham was one place to meet them.
So, off we went, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine what we would experience that day.
Remember, I was only used to small Brownies, our first drift was into Savages Creek, these two flies were on the leader, I hooked the first fish, a Rainbow of 3lbs, not big by todays' standards I know, but in those days, the fish were stocked at quite small sizes, the growth rates were astronomical, so even though my 3 pounder had been stocked, it had grown on to 3lbs, it was as close to wild as you would ever see in those days, our drift was into the shoreline, when the fish took, it was mayhem, in one run it went under the boat, and just carried on going, my backing was soon heading out, and lots of it too, eventually it tired and reached the net, bar of silver is not even close, it was immaculate, we went on to boat more fish during the day, Whisky did the business with Sweeney a close second, these were two must have patterns in their day.
Somehow they fell out of favour, why? I don't know.
But the important question is, do they still work? only one way to find out, you might be surprised.

Sweeney Todd.
Thread, Nano Silk, black.
Hook, Longshank.Partridge Streamer.

body, black floss, with cerise floss under wing
rib, silver wire.
wing, black squirrel or bucktail.
throat hackle, crimson cock/hen tied false.


Whisky Fly,
Thread, Nano Silk, Orange.
hook, Longshank.Partridge Streamer.
body, flat silver.
rib, hot orange floss.
wing, orange squirrel/bucktail.
Hackle, orange hen/cock.

Possibly the best flytying vice around today

Totally brilliant and uncomplicated vice, It does everything you will ever need in flytying

Regal flytying vice

Come into my parlour, said the spider to the fly.

Partridge & Orange, Partridge & Yellow.

 Two proven patterns, Nothing works better than the original traditional tying, but these are a good alternative to the original, Tied with the addition of pearl straggle string from Essentialfly. well worth having in the box.

River Tidan, (Baltak) and some nice river Rainbows

Niklas Dahlin, a good friend from Sweden arranged for all the flyters at Sportfiskemassan, which is the Swedish sports fishing show held in Spring each year, we had two superb days on Baltak, with the best group of anglers you could ever meet.
The first day saw blue skies and sunshine, a really lovely Spring day, I fished with another good friend Martin Angnell, Martin knows every stone and current on Baltak, I hooked five fish, netting just one, but lost one which was BIG, a truly memorable day thanks to the Swedish boys.
Three days later, I was again on Baltak, this time with Hakan Karsnaser, a truly amazing flytyer and fisherman, that morning I was lucky enough to hook 9 fish netting 8, but every one of these ran out of the pool, down the rapids, which meant I had to run along the bank to the next pool, slide down a snow bank into the river, then play the fish in the pool.
These were some of the most beautiful Rainbows I had ever seen, the river was easy to get to, the bonus is flights from the Uk are around 2hrs  accommodation is readily available right next to the water, a tackle shop is fully stocked at Hokensas, the guys in the shop are SO helpful too.
Give it a try, you will not be disappointed.                                      

River Tidan in Spring

Baltak Rainbow

The Lady Kathryn

Many of you have heard of Kathryn Maroun, but many of you will not know Kathryn has been fighting Lymes Disease for a little while now.
Kathryn is star and producer of a fantastic series of angling films, set in some of the most beautiful countries, ranging from Iceland to Argentina, the films are a real joy to behold, The skill Kathryn shows in her fly casting is truly amazing, you can catch the shows on some sky channels or check out her web site at the bottom of this blog.
Kathryn has fished all over the world, but, Atlantic Salmon are a great passion in Kathryns' fishing life, sadly she has been unable through illness to pursue her passion.
So, knowing she was feeling down a little while ago, I asked if she would do me the honour of allowing me to Tie her a Salmon fly, but, not only that, to actually name it after her, Kathryn kindly agreed to my request.
The result was a Salmon fly tied in the style of Irish shrimp flies.
I spoke to Kathryn and asked what was her favourite colour, which, turned out to be Maroon, so this is the first one out of the vice.
One day soon Kathryn will return to the riverbank, when she does, The Lady Kathryn will be in her fly box.
May that day not be far off Kathryn.

The Lady Kathryn

Dressing,
Hook, Partridge Salar double.
Thread, Red Nano silk.
Tag, Flat silver lurex.
Tail, Golden Pheasant neck, (claret).
Body, rear, copper wire. front, claret seal fur with copper rib.
Middle hackle, Claret cock.
Collar hackle, Grizzle cock, dyed rusty red.
Cheeks, Jungle cock.

Blue Winged Olive.

Travelling around the European fly fair, one statement I hear quite often is, "I really struggle to tie split wing dry flies" well, don't panic, here is a soloution, a SBS will follow, My Blue Winged Olive is so easy to tie, it looks quite difficult, but isn't, As well as being a nice looking fly to anglers, Trout absolutely love it. and on the Welsh Dee, the Grayling like eating it.
As the photos show the wings lie at a perfect angle to the hook. The wing is just one feather split down the middle after tying in. a very easy technique, which enables the tyer to achieve a nice result.

Some old friends

Like a good friend of mine from Uppsala Sweden, (Niklas Dahlin) I am passionate about giving younger anglers the chance to use the old favourites,
These are some of my most frequently used top dropper patterns,

The Blue Zulu, a truly amazing pattern, as likely to take a Seatrout or Salmon as a Trout, tied with a blue Guinea fowl collar, as a alternative to the standard.

Now, As many of my good fishing friends will tell you, My all time favourite fly for wild Brown Trout, the legendary Kate McClaren, one fly I would NEVER like to be without.









The Zulu, another go to pattern, the old Zulu is possibly one of the most reliable flies to have in your box.

One more Favourite, A bibio variant, a simple standard tying with the addition of a small amount of synthetic Straggle String, just an alternative to black seal fur.